This page provides a starting point for finding information about the use of asynchronous messaging resources for enterprise applications with WebSphere® Application Server.
WebSphere Application Server supports asynchronous messaging based on the Java Message Service (JMS) and the Java EE Connector Architecture (JCA) specifications, which provide a common way for Java programs (clients and Java EE applications) to create, send, receive, and read asynchronous requests, as messages.
JMS support enables applications to exchange messages asynchronously with other JMS clients by using JMS destinations (queues or topics). Some messaging providers also allow WebSphere Application Server applications to use JMS support to exchange messages asynchronously with non-JMS applications; for example, WebSphere Application Server applications often need to exchange messages with WebSphere MQ applications. Applications can explicitly poll for messages from JMS destinations, or they can use message-driven beans to automatically retrieve messages from JMS destinations without explicitly polling for messages.
WebSphere Application Server supports the following messaging providers:
You can build enterprise applications that use Java Message Service (JMS) APIs directly to provide asynchronous messaging services. You can also use message-driven beans as asynchronous message consumers. If you are writing messaging programs that interoperate between WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere MQ, there are some environmental differences that you need to take into account.